Episode 4 The Specials

Get on the floor! Do it, now!

The Special Constabulary is the nation's volunteer police force.

-Do you know the gent?

-Watch your speed.

It's made up of over 20,000 members of the public...

He's gone down there!

..who give their time to fight crime in their communities.

Out! Get out of the car! Get out of the car!

Specials combine their day jobs...

Stage, please.

And home lives...

There's a good boy.

..with being serving police officers on the front line.

Coming up, a teenager with a gun is at large in Cambridgeshire...

Youth's running now, he's on foot, running back towards Cambridge.

A suspected drink driver refuses to cooperate...

Will you please just listen? That means don't talk.

And a shoplifter is caught red-handed...

Have you been caught doing this before?

-I have, yeah.

-You have.

It's 11am and Special Sergeant Ross Spalthoff is preparing

to start his shift.

A member of the public has just called in,

two boys have been spotted with guns in the countryside near Cambridge.

There's some youths in a field with lurcher dogs,

it looks like they're chasing hares.

It's not hare-coursing season as far as I'm aware,

and the lady couldn't confirm what firearms these lads may have had.

Ross has been a Special for four years,

but this is the first time he's been to a job involving firearms,

and he's aware it may be a dangerous situation.

Didn't know who these youths were. I had no idea what they'd be doing with the guns.

The vests we wear are knife-proof, they're not bullet-proof.

So I'm as vulnerable as any other human being

that might have been approaching that situation.

It was really walking into the unknown.

Should be about five minutes, Nigel, OK?

Ross used to work as an accountant,

but he now volunteers full-time as a Special.

Being a Special is very different to being an accountant.

I love at the moment that I really don't know what I'm turning up to

each day at work,

whereas in my other role I did have everything planned methodically

for months and years in advance.

I work as a Special to give something back, really, to the community.

I used to just almost, you know, waste my weekends.

I just wanted to do something more productive with my time.

Ross's girlfriend Caroline is a regular police officer,

so she understands the risks that come with the job.

We do go into situations where we're...

in general, where police officers are in a vulnerable position,

and Ross single-crews a lot of the time, he's out on his own,

he's a long way from any help.

The worry is he's going to go towards something

that he then can't fight and he can't do anything about.

Today Ross is responding to a call from a member of the public

who was concerned to see two youths carrying guns across a nearby field.

The youths have since been spotted again in a remote area,

down by the river.

It's a towpath that runs four, five miles probably out of Cambridge,

through a couple of villages on the outside.

Obviously where they're going is not accessible by vehicle,

so it may be that they think that they'll be able to get away there.

As he approaches the river, Ross is flagged down by some passers-by.

There's two lads walking along the towpath, got guns over there.

Yeah, that's who we're looking for.

They walked across the bridge from Horningsea,

now making their way towards Cambridge. Towards the A14.

OK, lovely. Thank you.

Thanks.

Talk-through, please, for all officers at the firearms incident, Fen Ditton.

-RADIO:

-'Yes, go ahead.'

Thank you. A member of the public at the bottom of Fen Road at Milton

has said two lads with rifles or air rifles over their shoulder

have just crossed the bridge at Horningsea,

they're making their way towards Cambridge.

Repeat, towards Cambridge from Horningsea.

Ross's job is to block the youths' escape route at this end of the river.

As he arrives, more information comes through about the suspects.

-RADIO:

-'The suspects are described as 12 to 14-year-olds,

'one with a pale blue anorak, carrying long-handled brown rifles,

'obviously that could be rifles or shot guns, over.'

If the description is correct, the suspects are little more than children.

The type of firearm is still unconfirmed,

but it's an offence for anyone under 17 to possess

even an air rifle in a public place without adult supervision.

The concern was that these two youths were on a public bridleway.

One was deemed to be maybe 11, 12-years-old and at that age,

the law states and my personal opinion is they're not responsible enough

to have any type of rifle of any kind at that age.

To me, there's no reason why a 12-year-old couldn't turn that on a human being.

The police's plan is to approach the youths from each end

of the river and cut them off in the middle.

But Ross is worried they'll make a run for it across the fields.

So he leaves the car and heads down towards the lock.

I think I'd rather be on perhaps this corner, at least I can see

up and down both ways and across the fields as well.

It's only 10 minutes since the youths were last sighted

and they can't have gone far.

Good morning, can I have a quick word?

Have you seen two youths with rifles over their shoulders

going along the towpath?

Not at all, no. I joined it at the Penny Ferry pub.

Oh right, from Cambridge?

-I haven't seen anyone there.

-OK, lovely. Thank you very much.

So it's possible that they've come off and gone across fields,

or they've possibly even crossed over the river and are walking on the other side.

But we'll try these people as well.

Morning, you haven't seen two youths with air rifles?

-We've seen one of them.

-Yeah, there's a guy with a rifle under the bridge.

Under the bridge, literally just here?

Just under this flyover here, yeah.

And that was literally as you walked past?

-Yeah.

-Cheers, thank you.

PB Sierra Charlie 90.

-RADIO:

-'Sierra Charlie 90, go ahead.'

Member of the public just seen a youth, no mention of a second,

with a rifle of some kind.

He's under the A14 flyover bridge on the towpath.

We're literally at the corner now, I can see that area,

just advise please on whether you want me to approach.

-RADIO:

-'Oscar 1 says yes, that is yes, over.'

The situation has been risk-assessed by the force control room

and they confirm that Ross can proceed.

I think a lot of people think Specials are a bit mad

for doing what we do for nothing. Certainly for a case like this

where it was a firearm of some kind, I didn't know what it was,

to approach and not be being paid while I was doing that.

But my paid regular colleagues have to put themselves on the line

in these situations, I don't see it being any different for myself as a Special.

The other police unit has now arrived on the other side

of the river, and they've got a good view of the suspect.

-RADIO:

-'He has got a long-barrelled rifle with him.'

-RADIO:

-'That's all received.'

As he approaches, Ross receives a call over the radio

from his girlfriend Caroline who's also on duty and has been listening in.

Go ahead.

-RADIO:

-'Can you please be careful approaching people with guns?'

Yeah, it's only a rifle.

-RADIO:

-'Oh, OK, that can only blow your head off, like!'

That's my other half.

I'm easily replaceable, don't worry!

-RADIO:

-'Be careful.'

Ross arrives at the bridge, keeping his eye out for the suspect.

It's his first time dealing with any sort of firearms incident.

Knowing that I was first on the scene,

it's going to be for me to deal,

that is when the adrenaline kicks in, that's when you start thinking,

"This is potentially dangerous, this is real now."

The scenarios really were, what if he lifts the gun and points it at me?

What am I going to do? Do I hit the ground, do I run, do I approach?

What if he runs off, do I chase him?

Ross finds the boy, but can't reach him.

Hello, mate. How did you get in there?

He's behind a high fence, the gun, now confirmed as an air rifle,

is on the ground beside him.

Do you want to walk this way?

Ross puts some distance between the boy and the gun...

Do you want to walk this way?

..while he radios Control for back up.

Yeah, with the gentleman now, he's the other side of the fence.

Apparently he's entered where he is through a field.

So if other officers can make their way potentially,

I don't know exactly where, though, through Milton on foot,

but I'll try and get over to him now.

Ross sets off to try and find a gap in the fence.

But as he searches for a way in,

the boy suddenly takes off along a track.

The youth's running now, he's on foot, running back towards Cambridge.

The boy has taken the air rifle and he's got a head start on Ross.

-Where the

-BLEEP

-did he go?

Oh, he's gone down there!

The youth has headed off across the fields.

The only way for Ross to reach him is to jump over the fence.

It's all hands on deck now to find him.

There was probably four or five other units,

either in vehicles or on foot,

and by that time the helicopter had also been dispatched.

The area that we had to chase him through was very close to the river.

Not for one second did I think it was going to be as deep as it was.

As Ross closes in, another unit approaches from the other direction.

The suspect has nowhere to go.

-He's down there.

-Whereabouts?

-I don't know where he's gone to.

He's got an air rifle thing as well?

The air rifle is confiscated.

And the boy is taken to the police station.

But the 12-year-old is still on the loose.

He's got an air rifle as well.

We'll do an area search, continue to look for him.

-RADIO:

-'That's all received, thank you.'

It's now 20 minutes since the younger boy was last seen

and he could be anywhere.

Ross comes across a group of lads,

some of whom appear to be about the age of the suspect.

You been on the towpath at any point this morning?

-On the what?

-Baits Bite Lock? Been on the towpath? Just one second.

Ross calls control to get a name for the suspect...

What are your names, guys? What are your names?

..But it doesn't match the name of any of these boys.

It's started to snow heavily again and the helicopter reports

no sightings of the suspect.

So the search is called off and Ross heads back to his car.

There is still one outstanding.

Obviously, you win some, you lose some.

But we've got one detained. Use of an air rifle.

He's only 14 so the parents are going to have to make their way

to the station to allow us to interview this lad

to find out what he was doing and why he had the rifle.

To me, this is what policing's about. I love the thinking on my feet,

I love the not knowing what's going to happen next.

But priority number one is protection of the public.

Yes, it could have been dangerous.

Yes, you know, it could have been potentially risky,

but at the end of the day, that is why we do the role,

it's protecting the public from these type of incidents.

After a severe ticking off and the parents reminded

of their responsibilities,

no further action was taken against the two boys.

Specials are unpaid volunteers who work alone or alongside

the regular police to fight crime in their communities.

Have you got hold of them?

I don't want to see you walking on the main road again.

-Come on!

-Recovery's obviously en route.

Specials are not Police Community Support Officers.

They are fully fledged members of the police force

who have the same powers in law as their paid colleagues,

including the power of arrest.

-Stop it!

-Move over.

-No, no, no, no!

-Move out of the way.

Within many Special Constabularies, officers specials can rise through

the ranks from Constable all the way to Chief Specials Officer.

Ouch! I found a thorn!

Let me remind you, you're under arrest and anything you say will be written down.

Specials work 16 hours a month or more as volunteers

and undertake all kinds of duties,

from policing community events to arresting hardened criminals.

It's Saturday night in Cambridge and Special Constable, Louisa Bellis

is heading out on shift with PC Ian Gray.

They're on the lookout for drivers breaking the law.

And it's not long before a car in front catches their attention.

Evening, sir. You didn't see us behind you,

indicating for you to pull over into the lay-by?

Yeah, I see you but...

But you didn't stop and pull over straight away?

OK, the reason I've stopped you is that your windows are too dark.

These have to allow 70% of light through.

It doesn't matter if the car was bought like that...

-I'm Iranian.

-OK.

But before one stopped me and they say "change this one", I say "OK."

And you haven't changed it?

But I went to the police station and speak with them and they say nothing.

Louisa joined the Specials 14 months ago, so is well used to

drivers trying to talk themselves out of sticky situations.

I try and deal with the back chat very politely, very firmly.

OK...

Things like tinted windows, people know that you shouldn't have them

and if you give that person a chance you should give everyone a chance.

So I just tend to give the ticket out and let them learn from that.

In her day job, Louisa works as a scientist at an academic research institute.

I'm a chemo-informatic scientist which means I mix chemistry with computers.

I get to talk to a lot of different people across the world.

I get to travel as well which is fantastic, it's one of my favourite things to do.

And I get to work in science which is something I've wanted to do since I was 12.

I became a Special...for something to do that was worthwhile, to spend my spare time

helping people, learning new things and the Specials just seemed to encompass all of that.

Tonight, Louisa is out with the Roads Policing Unit and she and her colleague have just

pulled over a car with illegally tinted windows.

This device just gives an idea of how much light is being transmitted through it.

In the UK it's illegal to drive with excessively tinted windows at the front of your vehicle,

because it restricts your view of the road and other road users.

These side windows need to allow 70% of light through them and the windscreen needs to be 75%.

This is allowing 19.5% of light through.

The driver's windows clearly do not meet the legal requirements. But this isn't the only problem.

-Have you had anything to drink today?

-No, I'm Iranian.

-So you've had nothing alcoholic to drink?

-No, I'm Muslim.

Come and have a seat in the car, that's probably the best thing.

The man claims he doesn't drink because he's from Iran and he's a Muslim.

But the smell on his breath tells a different story.

I come across people from all different countries, cultures and religious backgrounds

working in this job and it is important to respect people for the individuals that they are.

However, you are subject to UK law when you drive on a UK road

and it doesn't matter where you're from, you have to have some

understanding of what the rules and regulations are.

Ian wants to breathalyse the man to find out how much he's drunk.

Take a nice deep breath and blow through that tube.

If you have a problem about my drinking...

Listen, let me give you a warning now...

It was last night...

It's irrelevant as to when it happened or when you've had your last drink, OK?

I can smell that you have been drinking.

Stop and do some listening, that means you don't talk.

The gentleman was being very obstructive, he wouldn't give a straight answer.

I don't think there was any reason for him to be obstructive, we could have dealt with it

there and then and for all he knew he could have gone home there and then.

But refusing to provide a specimen of breath when stopped by the police is an offence.

And Ian and Louisa have no intention of letting the man go.

Will you please just listen, that means don't talk.

-Are you refusing to give me a breath specimen?

-Yes.

Right, OK, I have to tell you now at exactly 3:00am in the morning,

that you are under arrest for failing to provide me with a specimen.

-D'you want him handcuffed, Ian?

-Please. Just to the front.

He's been arrested for failing to provide, he's going be taken back to Parkside and processed.

It's now 3:30 in the morning and Louisa still has three hours to go before the end of her shift.

My friends and family and even the regular officers I work with tell me that I'm completely mad

to spend my spare time working with them, especially for free.

But all I can say is that I enjoy it so much that it is worth a lot of nights out and I'd rather be

doing that than getting drunk somewhere in a club in Cambridge.

The man is transferred to a van and taken to the police station,

where he is handed over to the custody sergeant.

< What's the offence, please?

Failing to provide a specimen of breath at the roadside.

I spoke to the driver, I could smell that he'd been drinking,

I requested a breath specimen...which he refused.

The man is taken into a side room, where once again he will

be given the chance to provide a breath sample.

And Ian calls for an interpreter to make sure the man fully understands what's being said to him.

If he refuses then it's just a straight fail to provide, straight to court.

And a fail to provide is seen with the same intensity as drink driving.

Initially the man agrees to give a sample.

So, it's a yes there, is it?

But then he changes his mind.

He doesn't want to blow?

OK, that's fine. I need him just to sign.

At 03:55 hours he said yes and then he changed his mind to no at 03:57 hours.

By refusing the breath test again, the man has committed an offence and he's taken to a cell

while they prepare the charges.

-E1 please.

-Yeah, OK. And then we'll put the charge together.

Yeah, OK, come this way.

When people fail to provide at the roadside, it's not frustrating to me that they do this purely

because we do have a prosecution in place for this of fail to provide, which is as strong as

often driving under the influence of alcohol.

The man was found guilty of failing to provide a breath test.

He was fined and disqualified from driving for 26 months.

Specials get involved in all aspects of police work,

even investigations and undercover operations.

Today, special constables, Ben Patten and Chris Thurston, are about to go on a plainclothes

shoplifting patrol in Cambridge city centre.

We had a list of people who were known for repeat offenders, so we were just basically

keeping an eye out for those and see what we found.

And we're in constant contact with all the stores and the shopping centres,

so we know what's going on and who they're looking at.

In the past few years, retailers have reported a sharp surge in shoplifting.

And the police are increasingly using plain clothes officers to catch the offenders red-handed.

Obviously if you're in uniform then it's more of a deterrent because they'll see you from miles away

and they might think, well better not do that, but then in terms of trying to catch them in the act,

this is probably a better way of doing it.

Ben joined the Specials two years ago, following a long family tradition in the police force.

My great granddad was a regular police officer, he was a chief inspector I believe.

And then my granddad was a dog handler and he was the first dog handler in Cambridgeshire.

And then my dad was a Special for 20-odd years in Cambridgeshire as well.

So, yeah, being a Special is definitely in my blood.

In his day job Ben works for a car manufacturer, delivering spare parts to garages.

And he also works in the evenings for a local food delivery company.

But he still manages to find time to be a Special.

I have a few nights off during the week and I have the weekend days off so I usually can fit it in there,

or sometimes after the evening job I'll do a night shift if I can finish there early enough.

I think it's very important, especially this day and age with all the budget cuts and everything,

any help in the police service is obviously needed and obviously we're there pretty much on call

if anything major happens.

Ben's ultimate ambition is to become a regular officer, and he's just found out that he's been accepted,

much to the delight of his dad.

When I've related jobs at home when they were much younger at school I think he obviously

saw the exciting side but he's always wanted to do it.

But now being accepted in the regulars, I'm really, really pleased for him, you know.

Today Ben is out with fellow Special, Chris Thurston.

When he's not volunteering, Chris works in a supermarket.

They're on the lookout for shoplifters in Cambridge.

So far the offenders seem to be keeping a low profile.

But then Chris suddenly gets a call from the police control room.

Yes, we are, what you got for us?

That's received, on foot.

We've got a shoplifter being detained in the Grand Arcade,

so we're just going to have a walk over there and see what's going on.

Most of the shoplifters Ben has dealt with in the past have been young.

The majority of them you deal with are kind of teens, early 20s.

So he's surprised to find that this one is over 60.

He's 67, so what d'you reckon, he's going to say? I didn't realise?

They arrive at the department store, where they find the offender

being detained in a back office by security staff.

They have cameras all over the shop and basically they'd witnessed this man on the camera

placing items in his bag and then leaving the store without attempting to pay.

The man has paid for one of the items in his bag, a camera.

But he's failed to pay for a sheet and a lightbulb worth just under £30.

And he's claiming it was just an honest mistake.

The reason he gave for not paying for it was that he was a bit forgetful and he'd forgotten

he'd put it in his bag.

He had bought a fairly expensive camera at the same time and it's difficult to say if he was

being genuine or not.

Given the man's age, and the fact that he seems genuinely remorseful,

Chris and Ben wonder whether there might be more to this case than meets the eye.

Are you on any medication at the moment?

I'm on thyroxine for the thyroid gland and I have been on stress tablets in the past.

He's on a fair bit of medication which might have affected his judgement,

so we'll just kind of assess him, see what his state of mind is at the moment.

Make sure he's OK and whether he's done this on purpose or not.

But when Chris and Ben dig a little deeper, they begin to get a clearer picture of the man's history.

-Have you been caught doing this before?

-I have, yeah.

You have, when was the last time?

Erm...about four or five years ago.

It's also not the first time that staff at this store have had dealings with him.

He was apparently known to the security staff at that store for previously either attempting,

or actually taking items without paying, but they didn't catch up with him at that time.

So once you start looking at the evidence that's there and speaking to the other people,

you kind of build up a picture and it kind of does seem to be more repeat behaviour.

Ben and Chris must now decide how best to proceed.

The medication the man is taking may have affected his judgement, but he has still committed a crime.

Ben calls his sergeant to get some advice.

We've got a shoplifter who's got previous for shoplifting, but it was in 2004.

Are we able to issue a PND for that?

Brilliant, thanks a lot, Sarge.

The sergeant agrees that the best way forward is to issue the man with an on-the-spot fine.

So, basically it's an £80 fine, you will have 21 days to pay it.

Obviously you're banned from the store.

But then by dealing with it this way it's done basically, we don't have to arrest you,

we don't have to take you down to the station, that sort of thing.

Fining him I think was the best way forward, it would perhaps make him think about doing it again

and he realizes that now once he has been fined if he does it again and he gets caught it'll be

an arrest and he'll be taken to the police station and processed that way which obviously is not going to be

a nice experience for someone.

I need you to sign there to say that's an £80 fine, which you have 21 days to pay. Just there.

Once he's agreed to pay the fine, the man is free to go and Ben and Chris escort him out of the shop.

It was a tricky situation for the two Specials to deal with,

but they hope that their actions will deter the man from reoffending in the future.

You have to be sympathetic and take into account their mental state, it might not be necessarily

what they were intentionally wanting to do, but you have to be quite cautious in the way

you deal with it, really.

But I've always been brought up with a sense of right and wrong, obviously being in a family

full of police officers you always want to stop the bad guys.

So any opportunity to go out and either help people or stop people from doing stuff

they shouldn't be it's always a good opportunity.

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